Michael Jordan ‘not expected’ to return to NBA on NBC, per report

Michael Jordan’s NBC tenure will resemble his baseball career in length.

According to a report by Michael McCarthy in Front Office Sports, Michael Jordan is “not expected” to return to NBC’s NBA coverage this upcoming season. The network announced Jordan as a “special contributor” prior to its return to NBA broadcasting last season, but the six-time NBA champion sat down for just one interview with NBC all season, which was spliced into several segments throughout the year.

Jordan appeared much more frequently on Fox’s NASCAR coverage, speaking about his NASCAR team, than he did on NBC’s NBA coverage last season.

McCarthy leaves open the possibility that Jordan “could change his mind,” though characterizes that possibility as unlikely.

If it is, in fact, the case that Michael Jordan will not appear on NBC’s NBA coverage this season, the network’s initial announcement of Jordan’s contributions will go down as one of the most overhyped talent deals in sports media history.

NBC initially announced Jordan’s new role at its Upfront presentation in 2025, the spring event all networks put on to woo advertisers for the upcoming television season. The network issued a press release about the gig and even included a quote from Jordan himself saying he was “excited” to be a special contributor for the network as it returned to NBA coverage.

But it became apparent quite quickly that “special contributor” might only mean a single interview with NBC Sports anchor Mike Tirico. The first “Michael Jordan: Insights to Excellence” segment debuted at halftime of NBC’s opening game last year. Then, the second segment, which aired a week later, was simply another portion of the same Tirico interview, sparking speculation that this could be all we see from Jordan on NBC. Even as reports surfaced that NBC could conduct “two or three more interviews” with Jordan throughout the season, such interviews never materialized.

Given NBC’s failure to manage expectations around Jordan’s role, a situation that was made worse by several NBC Sports talents who hyped Jordan’s appearances before the season begin, with one saying he was “fully, fully in,” it’s no surprise that viewers were disappointed by the lack of Jordan throughout the season.

Other than his popular Last Dance documentary, which he co-produced, Jordan has rarely discussed his career or the NBA after he retired from basketball in 2003. Some thought that could change after his NBC role was announced. But now, it seems like we can close the curtain on Jordan’s short-lived broadcasting career.